VIDALIA, GA " "My focus and the focus of the committee is the consumer, and if they ask their produce manager for Vidalias, they will bring them in," said Jeffery Hall, manager of the Vidalia Onion Committee, here.

And he has big plans to reach consumers, making heavy use of television appearances and magazine coverage.

Since 1998, the Produce Marketing Association, based in Newark, DE, has addressed food safety at the consumer level through its financial support of the Partnership for Food Safety Education, a non-profit membership organization dedicated to educating consumers at home and at work about safe food handling.

During PMA?s Fresh Summit 2004 in Anaheim, CA, PMA and the PFSE unveiled produce-specific safe handling messages for consumers; now, these valuable consumer-education tools have been released in Spanish.

Columbia Marketing International, a Wenatchee, WA-based distributor of premium-quality apples, pears and cherries, has announced that Mike Wade, general manager of Columbia Fruit Packers, has been named this year?s Apple Citizen of the Year.

The award began in 1981; the recipient is chosen by a group of apple industry representatives.

PRO*ACT, a Monterey, CA-based leading fresh produce supplier to the foodservice industry, announced that it has appointed Steve Finberg vice president of sales and marketing.

He will assume these responsibilities from Brad Young, who recently stepped down to assume leadership of Incredible Fresh in Naples, FL, one of PRO*ACT?s 44 distribution companies.

The Produce Marketing Association announced that John Raudabaugh, vice president of systems implementation for Albertsons, will discuss the implementation and benefits of radio frequency identification technology and discuss his expectations of how the growth of this technology will affect members of the produce supply chain during PMA?s RFID Fresh Produce Academy & Expo on June 2 in Monterey, CA.

This event is scheduled in conjunction with the June 2-4 PMA Retail Produce Solutions Conference, also in Monterey.

Mauro Suazo has struggled to recover from Hurricane Mitch since the storm dumped up to four feet of rain on Honduras between Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, 1998. Always an active industry leader, Mr. Suazo has served as a consultant for Honduras' Department of Agriculture. He headed the Central American Melon Conference, hosted by Honduras, last summer.

Speaking with The Produce News April 5 about Honduras? status in post-Mitch redevelopment, and the progress of Honduran produce exports, Mr. Suazo provided a mixed review.